It was Monday morning.

Jay’s classes started at ten in the morning and ended at half past nine in the evening, with a few breaks scattered in between.

Jay and Sorrow had planned to stroll around the university campus to search for targets during these breaks.

The procedure would be the same as the one they had used at the cemetery, as it had proven to be reliable so far.

In fact, its implementation would be considerably easier on campus, given the large number of idle students present at any given time in such a populated university.

He wouldn’t be out of place even if he just stood there doing nothing, as many others would be doing the same thing everywhere.

Although it was called the exam week, the actual exams were mostly scheduled for the end of the week.

The other days were usually allotted for the completion of academic requirements, such as assignments, projects, and technical papers.

Of course, it wasn’t a problem for him, as he had been taking care of the requirements as they arose, long before their tentative deadlines.

He could have tried to help his peers during his free time, but that would only make him seem too abnormal.

The regular workload was already quite demanding. It wouldn't be realistic for him to have the leisure to help others after all that.

The only form of assistance he extended to his peers was answering a few questions here and there, which was somewhat enough to satisfy his noblesse oblige, as vain as it may be, while avoiding any suspicion regarding his transhuman qualities.

-

Jay’s first class in the morning was Microprocessor Systems.

The exams in this subject weren’t worth mentioning at all, even if he didn’t have his enhanced cognitive abilities.

The true challenge in the subject was the project and its accompanying technical paper.

It was an embryonic form of an undergraduate engineering thesis, albeit a separate instance, which made him wonder why it even existed when there was already a thesis in the curriculum.

It had to be said that it was not your typical little project that you could do with just markers and cardboard boxes.

It was a complete device intended to solve a realistic problem, or make it easier at least.

It placed a significant burden on the average student, both mentally and financially.

This was why students had been assigned to groups of three in an attempt to alleviate the workload.

Obviously, it wasn’t just a straightforward addition of workforce.

Despite being social animals, humans were somehow woefully inefficient in group efforts.

Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to deal with this troublesome matter, as he had been the odd one out during the grouping.

He had graciously offered to work as a one-man group when the class realized there weren't enough people for another full group.

Of course, the professor allowed him to choose a simpler topic for the project in exchange, which worked out in his favor quite nicely, especially when he had acquired his Identification ability later on.

A simpler project translated to fewer materials and technical requirements, although it would require more creativity to make something out of them that would be sufficient to satisfy the professor’s demands, even if the criteria had been considerably loosened.

However, with his information-gathering ability and enhanced cognitive functions, he easily made a working device from common and inexpensive materials, albeit nothing too fancy.

As for the accompanying technical paper, it was even less of a problem for him.

-

Although he was simply breezing through this supposedly troublesome subject, the same couldn’t be said for others.

Stolen story; please report.

The lack of financial resources was a serious concern, but it was somewhat alleviated by the existence of groups, as the members could split up their responsibilities among themselves as they saw fit.

However, some of his classmates simply didn’t have the inclination for these types of activities, which made things difficult for everyone, especially their own groupmates.

Of course, this doesn’t automatically imply that they were academically impaired in some way.

It was mostly their attitude toward matters that hindered their work.

At the moment, he could observe in the room that there were many furrowed brows among his classmates, likely having difficulties like the ones mentioned above.

Perhaps he wouldn't even need to roam the campus to meet the quota, as there were already many potential targets in the room.

-

By the time the period ended, Sorrow had extracted negative emotions from two out of the thirty-nine people present in the room.

To be fair, they could’ve fulfilled their quota right there and then, but it would be far too conspicuous, especially in an environment where everyone was already well-acquainted with one another.

At their year level, they had already spent so much time together that it wouldn't be strange to say they were already bored with each other's faces.

In this circumstance, a rumor about a sudden mental shift, especially one experienced by many, would quickly be dissected by everyone in the circle in no time.

On the other hand, a few of these occurrences here and there were more likely to be dismissed, especially in such a busy period where they already had a lot of things on their minds.

Jay and Sorrow would repeat this approach with the other subjects down the line.

Although the other subjects, such as AC Machinery and Industrial Electronics, were not as troublesome as the previous one, they were still stressful in their own right.

Of course, they would prefer to target unfamiliar faces from different programs and colleges, as it would be quite problematic if people with the same experience began confirming their suspicions with one another.

There was still a chance that some of these people actually knew each other and had enough mental resources at the time to take note of the sudden shift in their mental state.

However, the stated precautionary measure would, to some extent, minimize this possibility, which was already acceptable to him.

-

In the classroom, at around five in the afternoon.

“Where have you been, man? You were almost late.”

Jay’s seat neighbor spoke in hushed tones while the professor wrote equations on the whiteboard.

They were attending their final class of the semester in AC Machinery, which primarily served as a recap of every concept they had covered so far.

“Oh, sorry. I was just walking around to relax, and I got carried away somehow. Why? I haven’t missed anything, have I?”

“Not really. It’s just unusual seeing you in that situation, knowing that you’d rather stay in your seat than literally do anything else.”

“Now, that’s just your opinion. I do have an interesting life of my own. You’re just not paying enough attention.”

“You’re not a girl, so why would I pay attention to you?”

Although they were already proficient in having near-silent conversations, it just so happened that the professor glanced their way while reaching out for another marker.

“I can hear you from here, guys. If I ever hear another word irrelevant to this class, I will make sure you take your two-hour long exam while standing. Don’t make the wrong decision.”

They didn’t dare make another noise after that, as this specific professor was quite known for keeping his word.

It was only after the class that they finally regained the right to speak.

“Hey, we’re planning to go to the beach after the finals. Do you want to come? This is the first time our batch will have an outing. It’ll be fun.”

“Oh? How daring of you. How can you be so certain that you’ll pass the exams?”

“What does that have to do with anything? We just want to relax. As for the exams, well, to hell with it.”

“Wow, good luck graduating with that mindset.

Hmm. I’ll have to consider it. There’s still a week ahead, so I can’t promise you anything right now.”

“Ah, here we go again. You’ve rejected me too many times that I’m starting to think I deserve some sort of explanation after all that.”

“Alright then. It’s because…”

His friend’s eyebrow raised a bit, having an inkling as to what might come after.

“… I just don’t feel like it. Satisfied?”

“Ah… I knew it. Well, fine. Have it your way then. Just don’t blame me if the others wouldn’t want to invite you anymore.”

“Then I’ll be the one inviting them in the future instead. Of course, I wouldn’t mind if they refuse. Who am I to force them?”

His friend could only sigh in exasperation at his stubbornness.

Jay actually wouldn’t have rejected his friend Dexter if the latter had suggested some other venue.

There were two main reasons he didn’t like going to the beach.

One, he would have to take off his glasses when heading into the water, which would effectively qualify him for a disabled person.

Two, the cleanup after swimming was quite troublesome in many aspects, some of which included the long bathroom queue and the bothersome sand that had to be washed whenever he wanted to return to his lodgings.

Of course, he could've tried to suggest another venue to the group, but he refrained from doing so based on his own considerations.

He didn’t want to alter their plans only to impose his own preferences, as that would be too selfish of him.

Perhaps he would join them on the next outing, when the circumstances were just right.

-

It was around ten in the late evening.

Jay had just finished his dinner and was doing his daily routine at this specific period.

He was scrolling through Facetome for entertainment and information, while looking at his anonymous email account every once in a while for any updates from his potential clients.

So far, he still hadn't received any messages from them.

Even Ms. Anne hadn’t followed up on their commission ever since.

He had been quite confident of the quality of his work at the time.

If nothing went wrong, there was no reason for them to forgo his assistance in further investigations.

Perhaps they might have actually been spooked by the level of detail present in the compilation.

Now that he thought about it, it seemed to be the most likely explanation.

Even he wouldn’t let his information land in the hands of a stranger like himself, who could extract a ton of useful information from a seemingly irrelevant digital image within a short time.

Maybe he would have to tone down his output from now on, as it seemed to work against him instead.

Of course, this preventive measure was only based on his assumptions, but there was nothing to lose by erring on the side of caution.

He believed that he was still capable of delivering excellent work despite having to withhold some details.

Nevertheless, it didn’t affect his drive to continue this initiative, especially when he had already reaped the fruits of his labor.

As long as he was patient enough, the next windfall was bound to come sooner or later.